2008 second presidential debate, in Nashville: on Government Reform

Barack Obama: FactCheck: Yes, earmarks total $18B in this year’s budget

John McCain: We need a reformer because system in Washington is broken

OBAMA: Most of the people here, you’ve got a family budget. If less money is coming in, you end up making cuts. That’s not what happens in Washington.

McCAIN: I can see why you feel that cynicism and mistrust, because the system in Washington is broken. And I have been a consistent reformer. I have advocated and taken on the special interests, whether they be the big money people by reaching across the aisle and working with Sen. Russ Feingold [D-Wisconsin] on campaign finance reform, whether it being a variety of other issues, working with Sen. Lieberman on trying to address climate change. I have a clear record of bipartisanship. The situation today cries out for bipartisanship. Sen. Obama has never taken on his leaders of his party on a single issue. And we need to reform. And so let’s look at our records as well as our rhetoric.

John McCain: I fought earmarks even in defense spending

I know a lot of them that aren’t working. One of them is in defense spending, because I’ve taken on some of the defense contractors. I saved the taxpayers $6.8 billion in a deal for an Air Force tanker that was done in a corrupt fashion.

I believe that we have to eliminate the earmarks. And sometimes those projects that are really good projects, will have to be eliminated, as well. And they’ll have to undergo the same scrutiny that all projects should in competition with others.

So we’re going to have to tell the American people that spending is going to have to be cut. And I recommend a spending freeze--except for defense, Veterans Affairs, and some other vital programs--we’ll just have to have across-the-board freeze

John McCain: FactCheck: Killed corrupt $6.8B contract, but reinstated it

There is more to the story. McCain certainly did lead a fight to kill the contract, and the effort ended in prison sentences for defense contractors. The contract is still up in the air, however, and questions have been raised about the role McCain played in helping a Boeing rival secure the new contract.

After the original Boeing contract to supply refueling airliners was nixed in 2003, the bidding process was reopened. And in early 2007, Boeing rival EADS/Airbus won the bid the second time around. But Boeing filed a protest. The New York Times reported that “McCain’s top advisers were lobbyists for EADS. And Mr. McCain had written to the Defense Department, urging it to ignore a trade dispute between the United States and Europe over whether Airbus received improper subsidies.”